Philly-area talent leads Duke to NCAA men's lax title

Duke's Jordan Wolf (31) drives past Syracuse's David Hamlin during the second half of an NCAA college Division I championship final lacrosse game on Monday, May 27, 2013, in Philadelphia. Duke won 16-10. (AP Photo/Michael Perez)

PHILADELPHIA – The weight that had dogged them all season long immediately vanished as the clock flashed all zeroes and was subsequently replaced by ear-to-ear smiles on the face of every player.

After Duke had finished stringing together a monster comeback that it used to top Syracuse, 16-10, in the NCAA Division I championship game at Lincoln Financial Field, the Blue Devils wandered around the turf. They hugged each other, tried to get some time with the championship trophy and happily posed for dozens of pictures.

Brendan Fowler’s 20-for-28 day at the faceoff X, plus a whopping 14 ground balls, went a long way in Duke’s win. For his efforts, the junior was rewarded with the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award. But it sure didn’t hurt the Blue Devils’ cause that so many Philadelphia-area players dotted coach John Danowski’s roster.

Lower Merion product Jordan Wolf buried four goals and added two assists en route to being named to the all-tournament team. Malvern Prep graduates Bill Conners and Henry Lobb combined for three ground balls and helped shut off Orange sniper Derek Maltz, and Conestoga alum Brian Dailey also saw time. Dailey’s high school teammates, Tanner Scott and Jamie Ikeda, will also get national title rings.

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Dan Wigrizer of The Haverford School had his career ended with a concussion, but he dressed for the title game and his fingerprints were all over goalie Kyle Turri’s development. While the Philly players initially tried to dismiss the importance of winning in their hometown, Wolf admitted that it made it extra special.

“Oh my God, there are no words,” said Wolf, who had eight goals and three assists over the weekend. “It’s the best feeling ever. Duke’s the best decision of my life. I’ve been downplaying it all week, but this was the culmination, this feeling. I would love to win it in Maryland, Boston, anywhere … but being in Philly is unbelievable.”

“Honestly, it hasn’t really set in yet,” said Lobb. “I’ve dreamt of this my whole life in Philly at the Linc, can’t really describe it. Like I said when we saw the placement of the game few years ago, Wolf, myself, Brian Dailey, all we wanted was to come here and win it.”

The Blue Devils (16-5) started the season 2-4, including blowout losses to Notre Dame, Penn and Maryland before finally righting the ship. Maybe that’s why they didn’t panic – not too much, anyway – when Syracuse (16-4) rolled out to a 5-0 lead. Slowly but surely, Duke worked its way back into things, thanks in no small part to Fowler’s 14-1 performance in the middle quarters.

“I’ll be honest, I was nervous to start the game,” Lobb said. “Before the game, (Danowski) asked who was nervous and everyone raised their hand. But when you have a guy like Brendan Fowler, you are so confident. He literally was unbelievable. The only word you can use is domination.”

“Starting down 5-0 was pretty unbelievable, but when you have Brendan at the X and the offense we have you always have faith,” Conners said. “I knew we would score goals. It was a matter of letting the game settle in and making the next play.”

Once Duke did that, there was no stopping the Blue Devils. They erased the 5-1 deficit with an incredible 12-1 run that stunned the Orange. Tewaaraton Award finalist JoJo Marasco was limited to one assist in the first three quarters before adding two essentially meaningless fourth-quarter goals. In a microcosm of its season, Duke started out slowly, but when it got rolling, there was nothing anyone could do to slow down the Blue Devils. Of course, always having the ball because of Fowler’s big day didn’t hurt.

“Obviously, it’s a big stage,” Fowler said. “I was really excited to go out there. I think I just kind of calmed down after a little bit. Our wings were phenomenal all day. They were helping me kind of do my thing and boxing out.”

Seeing Fowler, who broke his collarbone last year in the championship game and played football in the fall, battle back was particularly endearing for Danowski. The fact that Fowler came through with more faceoff wins in one season than anyone else in history was huge, too.

“We always say going in, what can opponents do,” Danowksi said. “They could put a pole out there, they could beat him up physically, they could try to force him win the ball backwards and then give him a ten-man ride, or they could do something to try and jump start their team. But Brendan, he’s just an amazing story.

“I saw the x-ray, it was a clean break. He had to rehab all summer, couldn’t lift weights, he couldn’t do anything. Got himself ready for the football team, got cleared in October. Got a couple of runs on special teams. He’s not even with us in the fall. Maybe there’s something to do that. We don’t screw him up.”

Duke won 14 of its last 15 games by an average of nearly six goals a game, which perhaps not so coincidentally turned out to be the margin of victory. The Blue Devils thoroughly dominated every important statistical category, like ground balls (44-27), faceoffs (21-9) and shots (46-36). Duke’s seniors bookended their careers with national championships. They were freshmen when the Blue Devils knocked off Notre Dame, 6-5, for the program’s first title.

So when did Duke’s players know they had made magic yet again? Josh Dionne, who scored on all three of his shots, put it rather succinctly.

“Probably when the buzzer went and we played 60 minutes, right? That’s how we do it.”

Not a bad theory to subscribe to, especially when it’s backed up with NCAA hardware.